A Dream Worth Keeping
by Zaltanna
Summary: She reflects on her love for him. He reflects on his love for her. -Songfic- MorixOC


_Here's my first song fic, so please bare with me. I'm not sure how many of you will recognize the song, but if you do tell me and tell me what movie it's from ;) Anyway, if I like writing song fics after this one I may write others._

_**Thanks go to: **__Happy aquatic panda-If I hadn't happened across your story I don't think I would have even written this oneshot. _

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Ouran High School Host Club or any of the characters. They belong to Bisco Hatori. Nor do I own the song A Dream Worth Keeping. It belongs to Sheena Easton. I do however own Zaltanna._

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**A Dream Worth Keeping**

_Anytime you want to be right here_

_Just imagine me and all this will appear_

_You can keep this moment all your life forever near._

_A dream worth keeping._

Brown eye's met storm cloud grey from across the room as the lights dimmed. The blush rose to Zaltannas cheeks, like it did every time she locked her gaze with his. His eyes always took her breath away. Even if nowadays it was more of in a spiritual sense than a physical reaction. She no longer tried to hide her blush, as Mori always saw through it. Seeing the smirk in his eyes as he saw the blush on her cheeks, Zaltanna felt the dancers around her, partners and friends moving their bodies to the beat of the music, the lights flickering through the colors of the light spectrum.

Keeping her gaze locked with his, she slowly made her way through the crowd of moving bodies as he did the same. The only thing reflected in his eyes was her, and had been her for years. She began to wonder when it was that he had fallen for her, as she couldn't remember when his affection had changed from a dear friend to something more. It wasn't for lack of her being on cloud nine in love with him. It was the affection itself. It had changed so subtly that Zaltanna hadn't noticed the difference until the costumers to the Host Club began voicing that Mori had changed. They had however whispered who it was that was behind the change. She was never worried about Mori's customers, as they were mostly the wallflowers. They just gave her sad and upset looks, but they had never voiced their disappointment to her or Mori directly. The exact time frame she remembered the customers mentioning it was lost to her but she did remember it was around the time they both graduated. Zaltanna had to hand it to the man she loved, he was the epitome of his Host type but he knew how to show her affection and she had known him long enough to notice that affection.

The realization that she loved him didn't hit her until she realized how much it took himself to restrain himself from telling her he loved her. Zaltanna believed that love would ground her. Keep her from being who she felt she truly was. Yet that didn't stop her from seeing the trouble in Mori's eyes. The trouble he fought over about loving her. She wondered when or if he would tell her. Even after all the talks they had about love. She couldn't stop him from telling her how he felt, but her response was what she was afraid to give. Zaltanna was afraid her answer to Mori's love would either push away the only person that still cared for her, or hurt her worse when she realized that loving someone to that degree wasn't her.

That was why she had told him love would ground her. It wasn't a lie, but it also wasn't the truth, but she didn't know if it would hinder her. Zaltanna was afraid of voicing her feelings, afraid for once to take a step to seeing the real her, afraid for once to take a step to a future her. Pain and the knowledge Mori would one day leave her wasn't the reason she didn't tell him her feelings. That was just a lame excuse she had read so many times in books and seen so many times in shows and movies. She knew and believed that death was inevitable and the pain that followed was also unavoidable, and no amount of denial would change that.

When Mori had voiced his feelings, Zaltanna didn't push him away or tell him to leave. She just stood there looking blankly into his eyes. Trying to see him, not Mori, but the man Mori was. Struggling with herself to say her true feelings or keep it from him. In the end Mori's wordless way of talking to her, gave her the push she needed to finally admit to herself that she did in fact love him.

Mori had remembered the exact moment he realized he loved the woman who had become his whole world. The moment had been a rather sad circumstance, but it had a magical ending. She had never claimed crying as a weakness, but he realized that with the life she lived, she never cried over anything and he wondered if she ever had cried and she had proved him wrong that day. The day she realized she was all alone in the world.

Mori watched her tear down her own walls as she tried to claim that she was ok. He knew she was lying, but he humored her, wanting her to notice that even though she was alone, he was there for her. Zaltanna was just so independent that he knew keeping her from being who she was and keeping her from doing what she wanted, would just break her, leave her a lifeless , unfeeling, uncaring shell of a life that had so much potential. Her fierce independence was one reason why he stayed beside her. Mori wanted to see what she could accomplish, yet that independence had caused him much trouble.

That trouble was the reason he had fought with himself to love her or not. Would his love for her ground her for life, or would it make her soar? Mori struggled to find the answer until Zaltannas grandfather had told him something he would remember every time he looked at her. "_A free spirit isn't truly free until they experience the one thing they need to be truly free." _The old man hadn't said what it was that a spirit needed to be free. Yet Mori realized that each spirit needed something different to be free. Zaltanna was no different. The question that ate at him was, is love what Zaltanna needed.

The day Zaltanna tore down her own walls, Mori knew he loved her, and never gave it a second thought. Knowing and trusting in her he had told her how he felt. Believing that if, she was the one, she would soar like he wanted her to, and if she wasn't he would help her find what she needed to be free. Telling her his feelings went differently than he had wanted. Zaltanna hadn't thrown his feelings back at him, but she hadn't told him hers. She had just said that she couldn't be tied down by love. He could tell she wasn't telling him the whole truth, as she hadn't pushed him away or told him to leave. Mori silently wondered if she was scared of voicing her feelings.

It took a while, but patience paid off, and Mori got the answer he was looking for, the one that had troubled him for so long. While a simple "I love you" Or "Yes" isn't as magical as a kiss, it was magical when she had said it. The magic of it being how much she had tried to deny it wasn't what she needed, but looking into her eye's as they moved towards each other he knew it truly was what she needed to be free.

_When you're feeling lost I'll be your star_

_Just reach out and touch me no matter where you are_

_In a world where precious things are disappearing overnight_

_Just keep my star in sight._

Entwining her fingers in his, her free hand went around his waist, as she brushed his cheek with hers. Closing her eye's Zaltanna moved with him to the deep beats of the music as she breathed his scent in deep. Even under the smell of Old Spice, she could make out meadow grass and sweat. It was just subtle enough that she didn't complain, but even if it wasn't she wouldn't. It was what she fell asleep to now and had for years. It was how she knew he was visiting, in the years before they had been a couple. It was a smell that was distinctly him, and one she would always associate with him, one that would never leave her olfactory senses, even after he was gone.

She may have been a full head shorter than him, but that was where his gentleness made up for in their height and physique differences. Zaltanna wasn't a frail delicate person that a majority of the Host Club customers were, but she also wasn't a very meaty woman. Yes she had muscle, yes she cried out when her toe, shin or elbow hit dressers, tables, and walls in the middle of the night, or any other time of the day for that matter. It did not mean that she was a masculine woman. She had just embraced that women could have strength but remain women.

Zaltanna was fully aware of Mori's toned strong body. She knew how powerful he was, how strong he was, and how he could use that to his advantage. Fear for him just wasn't in her non-verbal category. He was too gentle and kind to hurt anything, let alone her. That wasn't what kept him from hurting her, forcing her to do his will. It was the belief his father ingrained into him. Men would be nothing without women. A man needs a woman to complete the circle of emotions. A woman is just a copy of man but with all of a man's weaknesses as her strengths. This belief keeps him in line and his hand in hers, his hand to protect her and defend her.

It was this and the comfort of his being that she held to at night when she went to sleep. When her arms rested along his chest or wrapped themselves around his waist, she molded the rest of her body to his. His arms folding around her, her signal that she was safe, that she was his, and that she was still in love with him.

He laid his free hand on the back of her neck, lightly resting his head against hers as he followed her steps. Mori didn't need to close his eyes to escape into the constant memory of Zaltanna. Her memory was so ingrained into him that even awake he could see her plain as day when she wasn't around. His cousin Huni had told him once that he was hopelessly in love with Zaltanna if he could imagine her with his eyes open as he could when he closed them. He hadn't questioned that, just let it be another reason for him to love her.

Slowly he twirled his fingers through her hair, never forgetting how soft and full it is. Mori had mentioned once that he loved the out of place blonde highlight that had stayed in her hair after she had tried to strip a color out of it once. Zaltanna never dyed nor thought about dying her hair since. It was one thing that she allowed him to keep, even though he had all of her to love. He had come to enjoy her long hair, even if it had annoyed him at first. He believed women should have long hair, but there was a length where it wasn't about the hair but the vanity. With her it wasn't about vanity, it was the length it was because she kept it for her grandfather, and he would never say it but he liked it now. That was the only secret love for her Mori would keep to himself.

No matter how many times they danced or slept together, Mori never denied how well Zaltanna fit in his arms. He was fully aware that she was petite and frail. Although he kept it to himself, knowing that she would box his ears if he mentioned it. She didn't like being called or classified as petite and despised being called frail. He had never forgotten the day poor Kaoru got a wrench to the cheek because he had called Zaltanna frail. From that day on no one in the Host club had called her frail.

_I believe_

_We've found a dream that's worth keeping_

_For more than just today_

_And even though_

_The winds of change may come sweeping_

_It's still a dream worth keeping_

_So don't let it fade away. _

Mori and Zaltanna shifted their rhythm to the music as the beat constantly changed. Already knowing how the other would move and having known for years. Zaltanna remembered how that all almost didn't happen. People from her past trying their hardest to mold her into a doll, one of which wasn't a life she grew up in.

This blast from the past had torn a rift between them. One that took just an 'I'm Sorry' to forgive, but she still felt pain whenever she remembered. Zaltanna couldn't stand to see Mori looking lost and unsure and it hurt her to be apart from him. Even as friends they were constantly together. Some people had even mentioned that she was just another Huni to Mori. They both didn't see it that way. Only a few people could tell something was wrong through his non-emotional face. She never wanted to see him look like that ever again, and she had done something about it. Zaltanna wasn't a mean person, but she had made some threats that she would follow through with and just as she had hoped, the trouble had gone just as it had arrived.

Every time the memory of the people from her past got brought up, Mori grew sad. He was aware that the trouble was long over and done with but he couldn't get over that she was almost lost to him. He got upset every time he had seen Zaltanna looking hopeless. He wasn't a violent or angry person, but the incident with her past had riled him up because they tried, and almost succeeded in grounding her. That was something he wanted to prevent and he would do everything in his power to keep her flying true.

Mori was aware that the people from her past knew full well they would break Zaltanna and that had been their intention from the start. For that Mori would never forgive them. He forgave easily, but when it involved her, he couldn't forgive. That was when he had realized how hopelessly in love with her he was. He was willing to go against his gentle easy going nature all for her.

Both knew that even though that trouble was long gone, they couldn't deny what it had done to them as a couple. It had given them their first fight, and in doing so broke both of their hearts to hurt the other, but it had also solidified their love. It made their love strong enough for nothing to come between them again.

_Maybe you'll be in some distant land_

_Feeling all alone, but I'll be close at hand_

_And every time you see a rainbow paint the sky behind the rain_

_You'll be here again._

Placing her arms around his neck and laying her head on his chest, Zaltanna smiled. There were few things they both did together that she didn't like, but dancing with Mori would always be her favorite. It was the only time, outside of the bedroom, that she could have him all to herself and not have to worry about time and place. While the times when they weren't together were few, she still had trouble sleeping when he was away at a business meeting or she was away for work.

Even as friends she had gotten so used to his presence that there was hardly a day she let pass without at least being around him for a short while. When Zaltanna had to return home for the holidays or unexpectedly she had found that her days dragged on and felt empty. Her grandfather had mentioned once or twice that she didn't sleep well, and she hadn't denied it. Although she hadn't said what exactly was keeping her from sleeping peacefully, as she tried to deny that Mori was the reason.

Eventually she just gave up the denial and admitted it. Finally earning the lecture from her grandfather about how when she gave her heart to someone that she would finally know true joy. Zaltanna hadn't said who it was that had her heart and head in knots, but the twinkle in her grandfather's eyes and the smile on his face made her realize that as a grandfather he just knew that it was someone dear to her.

His arms found their place wrapped around her waist as he lightly brushed her ear with his lips. Closing his eyes Mori cherished the times they got to spend together. Each step they took he remembered a moment they both shared. Those moments keeping him going through the days he was away from her and thinking on those moments allowed him to sleep when her space next to him was empty.

Huni had often warned him that constant contact with her would make him seem like he was too clingy. Mori had thought heavily about that especially when he feared loving her would keep her from the sky. Of course he never mentioned it with Zaltanna and she had never brought it up. He just figured that if she didn't complain or talk to him about it, it wasn't an issue for her. Once they had gotten together the fear that he might be too clingy went out the window. He was spending more time with her and she was living with it, and she was happy with it. That mattered to him.

_I believe_

_We've found a dream that's worth keeping_

_For more than just a day_

_And even though_

_The winds of change may come sweeping_

_It's still a dream worth keeping_

_So don't let it fade away_

Their breathing labored, and sweat glistening their bodies Mori and Zaltanna moved to the edge of the crowd. Looking at the man in front of her she didn't argue that introducing him to the club scene did wonders to how she saw him, and she knew he felt the same about her. At first he hadn't been to keen on the idea, it wasn't his idea of a good time, but he had humored her. Since then he didn't hesitate whenever she wanted to go out and club with him, and it gave him another reason to see her being herself.

Feeling lips on his Mori returned the sweet chaste kiss. He was never surprised anymore when Zaltanna kissed him without warning. He just took it and returned it, as lovingly as she gave it. He could feel her smile each and every time they kissed. Even if her mouth didn't smile, her body smiled. It was still smiling after all these years, and he knew it would smile for as long as they were together.

Mori knew that he was the reason she had begun to smile with her heart. She had smiled whenever she had mentioned her hobbies and interests, but that was just part of who she was. That wasn't a smile from her heart that was a smile of her. Only he could make her smile with her heart, and knowing that he did what he could to keep that smile on her face and in her body language.

Knowing that it didn't surprise him anymore, Zaltanna planted her lips on his kissing him sweetly. She loved kissing him spontaneously, it felt right to her to be utterly random with showing him she still cared. Of course the loving kiss she received was right to her as well. She could read that he was hers and that he knew it, that he was making her glow and that he knew it was all for him.

They had stopped with the cute pet names years ago, had stopped with the rushed 'I love yous', had stopped with the teenage love. They both took the time to show and tell the other their love now that they both could love the other freely. They had the time to go slow and experience the other, they had time to fully understand the meaning of love and the meaning of mate. Mori and Zaltanna had found what they were looking for, in each other. He had found someone to fly with and she had found a reason to be grounded.

_Some day you might be thinking_

_That life has passed you by_

_Your spirits might be sinking _

_With hope in short supply _

_And that's the reason why_

_That's the reason why_

_I know this dream's worth keeping_

_As long as it will stay_

_And even when you see the darkness come creeping_

_A dream worth keeping _

_Will never fade away…_

Breaking the kiss, Zaltanna rested her forehead on Mori's, her shortness of breath radiating through her, as she felt his touch with her whole self. Closing her eye's for a few moments she just felt him with her whole being. Every time they kissed she allowed herself to feel him in the way one should, and she fell in love with him all over again.

Feeling her shortness of breath Mori recalled all the times she had left him breathless and a smile lit his face. For his demeanor she had left him breathless more than he ever thought possible. And he was sure she would leave him breathless more than a lifetime worth more before they said their goodbyes.

"You kept me flying." Zaltanna whispered.

Mori whispered back, his eye's still closed, "Yeah."

"You're my dream worth keeping."

"As long as you will stay."

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_Fin_

_To deep? Not deep enough? Not enough dialogue? Let me know so I can improve in my other stories. I felt this song was best described through emotions and description rather than action. So I tried my best to keep Mori in character, so if he isn't to your liking I'm sorry. Depending on how this oneshot is accepted will decide if I write a story for Zaltanna. So please R&R. _

_Zaltanna_


End file.
